


A Life for a Life

by MathConcepts



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Character Death, D&D can burn in hell, Daario might be a bit ooc, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fire and Blood, I'm going to fix this shitshow of a season so help me god, Implied Sexual Content, Multi, Not AU, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Pregnancy, Resurrection, Revenge, Sex, breaking of that wheel, but everyone in s8 was ooc so I don't give a damn my dear, despite having a jonerys tag this story is not a jonerys story, if you like Sansa, so read at your own risk, this isn't the story for you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-03-08 10:52:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18893146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathConcepts/pseuds/MathConcepts
Summary: Drogon brings Daenery's body over the Narrow Sea, to the last of her loyal followers. Her death is not accepted by them, and they find a way to restore her life and her legacy.And now, filled with righteous rage over the crimes committed against her in Westeros by those she thought she trusted and loved, Daenerys will take her throne and her revenge.





	1. Child's Hope

The clash of swords against swords rang through the arena, echoing and giving the illusion that two small armies were fighting against each other under the burning sun. Daario Naharis looked on at the fray from under the shade of a woven canopy, his eyes tracking the movements of the fighting men as his fingers worked a small stone over the edge of his treasured knife, honing it to severe sharpness.  
  
A new batch of gladiators were training for the fighting pits, something that Daario had found lucrative to keep alive. With Daenerys gone, entertainment of a novel kind was scarce, and the sellsword's escape from the constant monitoring and ruling of Daenerys' cities was the pits. Not that Daario was trying to flee his duties by spending his free time in the pits, he merely wished to keep himself busy until his queen returned.  
  
And return she did, although not in the way Daario had hoped.  
  
A thunderous roar broke the air above the arena the next moment, and Daario leapt to his feet, holding his knife at the ready and gazing up into the sky as a dark, winged body blotted out the sun, casting him and the gladiators into shadow as it descended. The men scattered as it came closer, but only Daario held his ground as Drogon landed.  
  
  
Daario gazed at the dragon in awe, he nearly had forgotten how majestic the dragons were. And even more so, it seemed that Drogon had grown, his wings now spanned from one side of the arena to the other.  
  
Daario sheathed his knife, confusion overtaking his inital awe.  
  
"What are you doing here?" the sellsword said under his breath, taking a tentative step closer to the massive dragon. Drogon snorted, steam billowing in small clouds from his nostrils. And then he wailed, an earspitting screech that forced him to clap his hands over his ears, and then turn away as fire spouted from the beasts's throat, rising in a flaming arc into the air.

Heat surrounded both dragon and man in a whirlwind, and Daario slowly turned back around to face the dragon, trying to discover the source of its discomfort. Drogon extended one clawed paw, and Daario briefly wondered if the great beast was injured.  
  
But then, the sellsword caught sight of silver hair, entangled with Drogon's scales. Slowly, gently, with a tenderness of a child's caress, Drogon deposited the body of a woman on the burning sand.  
  
  
And frozen in shock, Daario stared down at the lifeless body of Daenerys Targaryen.  
  
With a horrid rasp that sounded too close to a human sob for Daario's comfort, Drogon nudged the body with his snout, once, twice, then three times, before slumping to the sand beside the body, and curling his massive frame around it.   
  
Without caring for any damage the dragon might care to inflict upon him, Daario ran, vaulting over Drogon's tail, and landing in a crouch beside the body.  
  
  
Pale eyes stared up at him from a face flecked with dried blood. Daario was surprised to see his own fingers tremble, but tremble they did as they closed around the hilt of the knife embedded within the body.  
  
  
The knife left the body with little resistance, and Daario held it tightly as he rose to his feet, and climbed back over Drogon's tail. 

The sellsword's mind was a churning mix of sorrow, confusion, and rage.  
  
  
What, what had happened across the Narrow sea? Daenerys had left, left him, and had now returned as a corpse, borne by her dragon. Her one dragon.   
  
  
Where where the others? Darrio wondered hazily. Where Drogon was, his brothers were always near, but not so this time. But Daario's attention soon left the topic of the dragons. With every step he took away from Drogon, and the form cradled in the sand, Daario felt his feet become heavier, and finally, he lowered himself to his knees.

He remained there for sometime, crouched in the sand, clutching the bloodstained blade in his hands.  
  
The gladiators remained in the sidelines, oohing and pointing, muttering to themselves. Daario paid no attention to them, and none were stupid enough to attempt to approach.  
  
Daario rose finally, and tucked the knife into his belt.  
  
"Remain here," he barked at the gladiators. "Go nowhere and tell no one anything, and allow no one in." he did not remain long enough to see if they would obey, but instead ran from the arena, and to the small force of men waiting outside, giving them the same orders before leaving.  
  
The journey to the Great pyramid was longer than any Daario had taken before in his life. The people of Mereen had of course seen the great dragon flying overhead, and then descend into the arena. They were clamoring and shouting in the streets, eagerly telling one another that their queen had returned.  
  
  
Daario slipped through less used streets and twisting roads to avoid them. Their joy was unbearable. Their queen was dead, killed by the knife in his belt. What would happen once the people were told this news, Daario had no idea.  
  
But one thing Daario could be certain of, was that bloodshed would be rampant once the truth was out. But his queen had charged him to keep the peace. And he would, for her.  
  
But Daario was a sellsword, he was hired, and he would fight. He no knowledge on how to break news as devastating as this, or how to handle the imminent backlash.   
  
He needed advice. And there was only one person that he knew of that could give him advice.

  
  
  
Kinvara was sitting in front of a flickering brazier of flames in the interior of the Great pyramid, her dark eyes glowing with their light. Darrio approached her slowly from behind, drawing the bloody knife from his belt as he did.  
  
"Are you intending to kill me?" Kinvara questioned, amusement seeping into her tone, although her eyes had remained firmly fixed on the flames.  
  
"No such thing." Daario replied shortly. Kinvara stood, turning and sparing Daario one glance, before her eyes dropped to the knife in his hands. "Queen Daenerys is dead." Daario said simply, his tone flat, dull. Like an Unsullied's voice, Daario thought, to his bitter amusement.  
  
"Her dragon flew into the pits just now, with her body." He extended the knife, looking at it baefully. "She was killed by this, it appears."  
  
  
Kinvara's expression did not change, but she reached out and took the knife, turning it, looking at the blood staining it.  
  
"You, and your people have to help." Daario continued, his eyes going aimlessly to the flames in the brazier. "There will be rioting and bloodshed once the people hear what happened."  
  
"What do you wish us to do?" Kinvara interrupted, looking back at Daario, a strange twist to her lips.  
  
"Have your priest, and priestessess spread the word that the Queen is dead, and do so as tactfully as possible. We must quell any panic, it will only lead to violence, and the last order our queen gave was to keep the peace, and I want it kept." Daario said forcefully.   
  
Kinvara took a step towards Daario, her fingers running delicately over the dries blood on the blade she held, not disturbing a single flake of it.  
  
"No amount of tactful words will keep the people calm." she warned.  
  
"You must at least try!" Daario snapped, rage clouding his voice. "The people will riot, and our enemies will descend upon us like flies on shit when they learn she is dead! We do not have the forces to hold off a direct attack for long!"  
  
"If she is not dead, none of what you fear will come to pass." Kinvara interrupted once more.  
  
Daario's laugh was brittle, rattling, a sound like old scraps of rusty metal being hit together.  
  
"She is dead. Nothing can change that."  
  
"The Lord of Light can change that." Kinvara said pointedly, holding the knife out, over the brazier, so that the flames nearly touched it. "If she is raised, she will be with us once more, the people will rejoice the return of their queen, and she will take revenge upon those who put her to death."  
  
Daario swallowed, his eyes flaming with a crazed hope that ebbed as soon as it came.  
  
"I never have put must trust in the prattle of priests and their gods. I know no god except for my sword, and the beauty of a woman."  
  
"The Lord of Light of the true god. Our queen is the one who was promised, and the Lord will give her back to us, so that he may complete his promises."  
  
Daario scoffed, the hope fading from his eyes.   
  
"She should be given a proper burial immediately." he said. Kinvara regarded him with a piercing look, then closed the distance between them, til they stood only inches apart.  
  
"You profess to love her. If you do indeed love her, allow me to see her before you lay her to rest. She gave you a chance when you laid the heads of your captains at her feet, extend to her the same honor." Kinvara entreated.  
  
Daario swallowed again, the flames reflecting and flickering in the corners of his eyes.   
  
"Do what you must." he whispered.  
  


* * *

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Child of Fire

Daario's men had tried to fulfill their orders, the crowd that had gathered outside of the pit had been too much for them, and they had entered the pit, flooding it. But Drogon had kept them at bay, and they huddled against the walls of the pit, staring out at Drogon and the body in the center with curious and shocked eyes.  
  
His men pushed the people aside to make clear an entrance into the pit, and Daario hurried into it, muttering curses under his breath as he took in the amount of people who had forced their way in, he was followed by Kinvara and two other men, who carried things that Kinvara had requested for the ceremony.

"Place them down, and go." Daario heard Kinvara say, and moments later, two pairs of footsteps faded off, to join the throng lining the arena. Daario turned to her, picking up the iron brazier that the men had left in the sand beside her.   
  
Kinvara thanked him with a nod, and stooped to retrieve the flagon of water, cloths, and assorted tools that also lay on the sand. Then they walked together towards the looming figure of the dragon that had remained stationary in the middle of the pit.  
  
The dragon seemed not to notice their approach, or perhaps he did not care. But when the two came closer, Drogon unfurled his tail, opening a path directly to the body he was guarding. The crowd murmured as they were given an unobstructed view of the corpse.  
  
Kinvara and Daario paused, and shared a look, before walking forward towards the prone form on the sand.   
  
"Dragons are extremely intelligent creatures." Kinvara said in response to Daario's unasked question. "He knows we wish no further harm towards his mother."   
  
"Do you think that is why he brought her here? Because knows he can trust us?" Daario questioned.   
  
Kinvara shook her head, her loose curls bouncing.  
  
"It is impossible to say what goes on in the mind of a dragon. Perhaps he only wished to bring her back to the place where he knew she was happy to be."   
  
"She was not happy to be here." Daario objected. "She wanted the throne of her ancestors, and she left for it."   
  
"And, she died for it." Kinvara interjected as they reached the body. "She was killed in Westeros, most likely. She did not find much happiness there, I am afraid."  
  
Daario went silent, and set the brazier on the ground at the body's feet. Kinvara favored him with a slightly sympathetic look, the stretched her hand out, over the brazier, and whispered some words. Tongues of fire leapt up, arching against her hand, and she withdrew it quickly and knelt by the body.  
  
With deft fingers, fingers that did not tremble, Daario noted, Kinvara unfastened the clothes covering the body and pulled the layers apart, revealing pale skin and deep wound that oozed clotting blood.  
  
Daario was familiar with the contours of the body that lay in the sand, he has spent many languid moments mapping every inch of it. But he had never seen it like this, stiff, pale, and marred. He had seen the bodies of the dead before, but this, this was different.

"It is always different when death takes one whom you love." Kinvara said, taking a cloth and wetting it with water from the flagon. Daario shook his head wordlessly, and knelt on the sand next to her.  
  
"I should have gone with her." he said.  
  
"And refuse her order to stay and keep the peace?" Kinvara countered as she began to carefully clean the wound.  
  
"No. I only wished I could have protected her." Daario said.  
  
Kinvara made no response, shifting her attentions to the blood on the body's face. When it was cleaned, she set the cloth aside, and with one of the tools she had brought, snipped hair from the ends of the silver curls that trailed limply in the sand. She threw the fluttering silver strands into the brazier, where they burned, sending out thin trails of smoke.   
  
All around them, the crowd muttered and tittered, intrigued by the ritual.  
  
Daario regarded her actions with a critical expression.  
  
"Can you truly bring her back?" he asked.  
  
"That remains to be seen." Kinvara answered cryptically. She pressed her hands over the wound, and began chanting in a low voice. Despite Daario's misgvings, he held his tongue, focusing on the words that Kinvara was whispering, he recognized Valyrian, and his stomach writhed in grief.   
  
Kinvara's chanting faded, and she and Daario remained kneeling, intently watching the body. But nothing about it had changed. The flames in the brazier began to flicker and  die out, and Kinvara finally met Daario's eyes, a hint of regret in her own.  
  
"She is still cold." Kinvara said, finality in her voice, her hands leaving the wound. Daario stared down at the ground, sucking in a breath through gritted teeth. Kinvavra began to speak again, but then, Drogon began to stir.  
  
With a growl, the dragon uncurled himself from around the body on the sand, extending his neck and angling it downwards. Understandably afraid, Daario jumped to his feet, and seized Kinvara's arm, pulling her up with him. They ran as the first stream of fire poured from Drogon's mouth, enveloping the body.

The people in the crowd screamed as one, calling out in horrified voices, then rising in a cresendo as another stream of fire, and another came. Three times Drogon breathed fire over the body, and Daario and Kinvara could only watch as leather and metal melted off the body. But the body was not consumed by the flames.  
  
Drogon stopped after the third time, and bowed his head, nudging the unburnt body. Daario could hear Kinvara's sharp intake of breath, and his own, mingle with the crowd's as the body's chest rose suddenly, and then fell. And then slowly, the body sat up.  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Daenerys stared at her surroundings with wide, confused eyes. She was naked, her clothing having burned away in Drogon's fire, and the wound still blotted her torso. But, she was alive.   
  
Throughout the pit, there was a stunned silence.  
  
  
Daario ran to her, and saw recognition in her eyes. Overcome by amazement, he attempted to bring her to her feet, putting his hands under her arms and guiding her up,  but Daenerys jerked away from him, her eyes widening in fear.  
  
The rejection stung Daario, what had he done wrong? But the fear in Dany's eyes overruled everything else.  
  
"My Queen, what is it?"  
  
Dany shook her head, a pained expression twisting her face, overtaking the confusion.  
  
"Don't call me that." she rasped. "That's what he called me, before he..." she trailed off, staring beyond Daario at no point in particular. "How am I here? Why am I here?" she began in a hollow whisper. "He stabbed me, I felt it...he killed me..."  
  
"And we have brought you back." Daario interjected.  
  
"How?"  
  
"The Lord of Light brought you back." Kinvara said, stepping forward into Dany's line of vision. "It was his will that you should live." Dany shook her head, a look of denial on her face, her hands going to her wound.  
  
Kinvara knelt by Dany, offering her hands to her.  
  
"Do not be afraid. One who has died, has now nothing to fear." she said.   
  
Dany hesitated, but resolution crept into her eyes, burning in them like a flame. She put her hands in Kinvara's, and shakily stood. When she did, the silence was broken, and the crowd roared with frenzied approval.  
  
Kinvara held up a hand, silencing the crowd once more.  
  
"Behold your Queen!" the red priestess shouted. "This is Daenerys Stormborn of house Targaryen, First of her name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, and She Who Has Risen From Death!"  
  
The scream of the crowd was deafening, and it became even more so when Drogon added his voice to theirs, seeming to roar in agreement with Kinvara's proclamation.

Dany let the cheers wash over her, her eyes, though resolute, were bewildered, and she placed one hand on her torso, flattening it over the deep wound on it.  
  
Daario's eyes met hers, and she could see the questions burning in his gaze, and the affection that burned even deeper. Dany looked away, remembering another pair of eyes, gleaming with that same affection.  
  
Her wound throbbed, and Dany set her teeth. She would survive this last betrayal. She had just survived death itself, by the help of the ones who were truly faithful to her. 

The words of the Quaithe woman rose suddenly in Dany's mind.  
  
_"To go forward, you must go back."_

Dany had gone forward. She had touched the Iron Throne of her forbearers, she had been seconds away from mounting it before her last betrayal had brought her down and sent her back, back to the people who loved her, and who she loved in return.  
  
Perhaps this was yet another part of the journey, Dany mused. But so be it, if going back was the cost to take the final step forward, Dany knew she would gladly pay it. No, she had paid it. 

She would return to Westeros, and take what was due to her. Be it the throne, or vengeance. Or both.  
  
_"I will take what is mine in fire and blood, and my enemies will die screaming."_ Dany thought fiercely, allowing the crowd's adulation to sweep through her.  
  
A face danced on the edges of Dany's thoughts, but she shoved it aside, her fingers clenching over her wound.  
  
Jon Snow meant nothing to her now.


	3. Child Of Essos

"Your Grace, we should return to the pyramid." Dany heard Daario whisper to her, and she nodded, agreeing. The sun was hot, and the sand was burning. But Dany did not mind the temperature so very much, than she minded being exposed before so many people.  
  
Her people.  
  
Her people, Dany thought, and she did not mind her bare skin and the stares of the crowd very much after she had thought that. These ones loved her. She had no reason to hide before them. But, still, Dany wanted privacy, there were many questions she wanted answered, and she knew there were many questions that would be asked of her. She reached for Daario, laying one hand on his arm to support herself, while Kinvara placed a hand at her waist.  
  
With Dany between them, Daario and Kinvara slowly made their way out of the pit. The crowd surged around them, overcoming their fear of Drogon, in favor of the novelty that was Daenerys.

Dany saw wide eyes and amazed expressions on every face in the crowd, hands reached for her, and voices screamed for her as she walked through them. They had nearly reached the doors of the pit when Daario halted, earning a curious look from both Dany and Kinvara. The sellsword gestured to a young woman who stood right before the gates, and the woman came forward.  
  
"Her Grace needs clothes." Daario requested. The woman nodded, pulling her long, fluttering cloak from her shoulders, and slipping her sandals from her feet, and offering them to Daario, who took them and held them out to Dany.

Dany took them, wrapping the cloak under her arms and over her breasts, and stepping into the sandals, nodding her thanks to the woman as she did. Behind them, Drogon took to the air, casting shadow over the arena. He remained in the air and followed as Daario's men surrounded Dany, and processed with her to the Great Pyramid. When they entered it, Drogon took a station on top of the Great Pyramid, curling around its peak.  
  
Daario's men were left outside the Pyramid to deal with the excited people, and Daario and Kinvara escorted Dany inside.  
  
"Do you wish to bathe, your Grace? A bath is ready in my chambers." Kinvara said, her eyes pointedly tracking a particle of sand that fell from Dany's hair. Dany's lips quirked.  
  
"Yes, I will bathe." Dany said.  
  
"I will call someone to attend to you, then." Kinvara offered.   
  
"No!" Dany said sharply. Kinvara's brows arched, and Daario's eyes flicked to Dany in alarm. Dany let out a soft, low, sigh, her shoulders drooping slightly.  
  
"I would rather bathe myself." Dany explained shortly. Kinvara nodded graciously, and turned into a hallway, gently bringing Dany with her by a touch on her arm. Daario fell back, standing unsurely at the start of the hall.  
  
Dany looked over her shoulder at him, and Daario could see that she was making a swift decision.   
  
"You may come too." Dany said, and Daario hurried over to her. At any other time, Daario would have chided himself for coming so quickly, but he had no thought for his ego at this time.   
  
  
Kinvara led them down the hall, to the rooms that Daario knew were hers. A copper tub was set in the middle of the room, steam rising from it. Daario had seen it when he had come into Kinvara's rooms earlier, though he had not given it much thought then.   
  
"Get the oils." Kinvara ordered, but Daario was moving before she had completed her sentence, taking a few little vials from a niche where they had been stowed at. Kinvara took them from him, and tipped them into the tub, setting the empty vials down afterwards.  
  
Dany stepped towards the tub, letting her thin covering fall to the floor, and stepping out of her sandals before putting a leg over the edge of it, and lowering herself into the water. The water was boiling, Daario could see the bubbling surface from where he stood, but he chose not to comment.  
  
Dany closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the rim of the tub, simply enjoying the steaming water, before opening her eyes and requesting a cloth to wash with. Daario crossed the room, and plucked a cloth from where he knew Kinvara kept them, and walked back, offering it to Dany.  
  
Dany took it, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"You've been with her." Dany said in a light voice, wetting the cloth and dragging it across her arms.    
  
"I don't follow." Daario said, although the sinking feeling in his stomach said otherwise.  
  
"Kinvara. These are her rooms, and you seem to know where she keeps her things. You've been with her." Dany reiterated.  
  
Daario opened his mouth to deny it, but thought better of it. Daenerys was not stupid.  
  
And she was right. He had slept many times with Kinvara over the past months of Danerys' absence. In her absence, Daario and Kinvara had become the unofficial rulers of the kingdom Dany had left behind, and the strain had took its toll on both the sellsword and the priestess, both of whom were unused to leading at such great capacity.  
  
Daario, though he had held out for much timeafter Daenerys departure, had needs besides killing, but had found it harder to seek out women as he pleased, after all, what would Daenerys' people think of him if he went out whoring? He was already under scrutiny from his position as a sellsword.  
  
So he had sought out the one woman who was near to him. As for Kinvara, Daario did not know the motives she had for letting him into her bed, although he was certain he would find out one day. In the meantime, Kinvara had become one of the only ones in Essos that Daario trusted in regards to Daenerys' kingdom.  
  
All this would have taken too long to explain to Dany, but Daario knew that honesty was the best way by which to placate his Queen.    
  
"I have been with her." Daario said, looking Dany squarely in the eyes. He owed her that courtesy.   
  
Dany met his eyes, looking back at him intensely, and Daario felt trepidation creeping up his spine. Then Dany laughed. It was brief laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.  
  
"Do you think I disapprove?" Dany asked, and Daario was relived to hear that her tone carried a hint of amusement. "I took a lover across the Narrow Sea, after saying farewell to you." Dany continued, and Daario felt jealousy grip his heart.

"Who was he?" Daario said, before he could stop himself.  
  
"The man who killed me." Dany said, her voice low and cold. She dropped her cloth, her fingers clenching around the sides of the tub. "I had won. I had the Iron Throne, Daario." Dany admitted in the same low voice. "And I asked him to share it with me, to rule by my side, and instead, he..." Dany's hand sunk under the water, going to her wound.  
  
"Why?" Daario asked. "If he was your lover, why?"   
  
Dany shook her head.  
  
"I do not know, but I know he turned against me...I thought he loved me." Dany finished bitterly.  
  
"Treachery cares not for love." Kinvara broke in. "Who was this man, this lover of yours, who killed you?"  
  
"His name is Jon Snow." Dany said, her face twisting as she said his name. "He came to me when I arrived in Westeros, to ask for my help in fighting a threat bigger than the one on the Iron Throne. Tyrion knew him, he trusted him. I came to trust him too...and to love him. I took my forces North, and destroyed the threat...but the people there had no love for me...I was happy to take my armies back south, I burned the city, I took King's Landing and the throne. But it was all for nothing."   
  
"You left what you conquered for those who followed you." Kinvara said.  
  
"There is no one left." Dany replied, her eyes blank, and her voice lax as she spoke. "They died. They all died. My children, Rhaegal, Viserion, and Jorah...Missandei...Missandei spent her last moments in chains, and I promised her...I promised her..." Dany's voice broke on the last words, and she hung her head, staring into the rippling water. "Leave me." Dany ordered, and Daario could she that she was trembling. Not from cold or fear, but from rage.  
  
Daario and Kinvara left the chambers, and Daario thought he heard a faint sob from behind. Daario was simmering in rage as he assimilated Dany's words, but Kinvara was calm and collected, her face giving away nothing.

"I will go pacify the people, stay with our Queen." Kinvara told Daario. Daario nodded, acquiescing and quickly turning to other thoughts.

"Two of her dragons are gone." he said unbelievingly.  
  
"It is a great loss for her, but one dragon still remains to her. It will be enough." Kinvara assured him. Daario chose not to answer, and they parted then. Daario remained by the chambers, guarding them, and his vigil was only broken when a young girl, doubtless sent by Kinvara, came sometime later, with food and clothes for Dany. Daario took them from the girl, and sent her away, entering the chambers after she left.   
  
  
"Your Grace." Daario said, setting the tureen of fragrant food and flask of wine down on a table, and looked around the room for Dany, leaving the dress slung over his arm.

Dany had left the tub and was standing by the brazier, her hair and body now dry from the heat of the flames. She looked up when Daario addressed her, holding a hand out for the garment he carried. He passed it over to her, and she put it on.  
  
  
"Are you hungry?" Daario asked, to break the silence that was beginning to fall. Dany grimaced, a faraway look in her eyes.  
  
"No. I don't want to eat. I stopped eating...I knew they were trying to poison me." she added, and her eyes regained clarity, locking on Daario. "I never truly trusted you, you know." Dany began, stepping away from the brazier and contemplating the flask of wine. "You are a sellsword, a man who knows killing and nothing else. I was always cautious of you, held you back. But you were never a threat to me, where you?"  
  
"No, your Grace." Daario said.  
  
"I know that now." Dany continued. "I've felt true betrayal. The greatest threat to me came from the one I trusted most. I trusted you less, and yet, here you are, still loyal to me."  
  
"I love you." was Daario's answer to that. But Dany shook her head.   
  
"And when you stop loving me?"  
  
"I will never stop."  
  
"That is impossible." Dany said, picking up the flask of wine. Daario jutted his chin out, an arrogant facade.

 "I am Daario Naharis. No one will tell me what is impossible or not." he returned.  
  
"Except your Queen." Dany said over the sound of wine tinkling into a glass.  
  
"Yes, except my Queen." Daario agreed. Dany took a seat on a low bench, holding a filled wineglass, but not drinking from it.  
  
"Kinvara?" Dany asked, but did not elaborate further.   
  
"I do not love her." Daario hastened to say. "I was lonely here without you, and whatever her reasons, they sufficed for my purpose. However, I do trust her."   
  
"Why?" was Dany's next question.  
  
"She could have returned to Volantis, but instead she chose to stay, and her and her priests kept you in the people's good graces, and told them you would return, and kept their faith in you alive."   
  
Dany nodded thoughtfully.  
  
"She is an ally, and that is good. Mine are now all gone, and I will need strong and trustworthy allies when I return to Westeros." she said.  
  
"You are going to return to Westeros?" The image of Dany's wound flashed before Daario's eyes, making him ask the question in a harsher way then he had wanted. 

"The Wsterosi throne is still mine, despite those who did not wish to see me on it. And its people are mine, and there are those in that land that must come to justice."  Dany said sharply. "Justice may not suffice, though." she added, rising from her seat. "I want vengeance. Vengeance for the deaths of my children, and of my followers. Jon Snow may at this moment be sitting on the Iron Throne, but he will not sit there for long."   
  
A swish of fabric drew Daario's attention from Dany's chilling words, and he looked over to see Kinvara enter the room, holding a scroll.   
  
"This letter has just arrived from Westeros." Kinvara announced, crossing the room and holding it out to Dany, who took it immediately, and broke its seal.   
  



	4. Child Of War

"It's from Tyrion." Dany said, unfurling the scroll and looking at the handwriting. She didn't say more after that, instead reading the letter, her eyes darting over the words. Then, she began to read aloud.   
  
"To the subjects of the late Queen, Daenerys Targaryen; Your Queen has lost her life in the fight for the throne of her ancestors. Rumors concerning her death may abound and reach you, her people across the Narrow Sea, but I ask that you do not believe them, and to remember your Queen as you last knew her. A wise and capable ruler now leads Westeros, you should not fear for the sake of the country your Queen wanted, or attempt to reclaim it. Be content with the lands your Queen won for you, and choose yourselves a new monarch. Signed Tyrion Lannnister, Hand of the King."  Dany finished, her hands threatening to crumple the paper.  
  
"Arrogant bastard." Daario hissed.  
  
"Hand of the King." Dany mused, tossing the letter aside, where it was picked up by Kinvara. "He has already put another King on the Throne. I only wonder how long it will be before he betrays that King, as he did to me."  
  
"I do not think he intends to betray his new King." Kinvara said. "This letter was sent to dissuade your people from seeking retribution for you, and it means he wishes for his new King to rule in peace. Whoever sits on the Throne now, he intends to keep on the Throne."   
  
"Not if I have a say in it." Dany said darkly. "Jon Snow sits on the Throne now, I am certain of that."  
  
"What claim does this Jon Snow have to the throne, that would make him king over you?" Daario inquired. 

Dany's eyes went to Daario's, her lips turning up slightly in amusement at the trickle of jealously in his voice.   
  
"None, or so it would seem. He is bastard...or so I thought." Dany's hand went down over her wound again, and she seemed to be steeling herself to speak. "...He confided to me that he was the child of my brother Rhaegar, and Lyanna Stark. He has Targaryen blood...he has a claim to the throne."  
  
She paused, taking in Daario's dumbfounded expression.   
  
"Another Targaryen. And they preferred him to me." Dany said. "And maybe you will too." she added, bitterness in her tone.  
  
"We do not serve you because of your blood, we serve you out of loyalty to you." Kinvara spoke up. "The blood of your ancestors may flow through Jon Snow's veins, but that only makes him a kinslayer, as well as a Queenslayer."   
  
Daario shook off his shocked haze.  
  
"I swore to serve you, not because of who your parents were, but because you were a fierce spirit, a conqueror, and a beautiful woman. Jon Snow, as far as I know, is none of those things."   
  
Dany smiled every so slightly.  
  
"Jon was a very handsome man. But he seems ugly now, to me." she said.  
  
"A wolf, in sheep's clothing." Daario said. Dany nodded.  
  
"And Jon Snow was a true wolf. He swore allegiance to me, but when I begged him not to reveal his identity to his family, he ignored my request and told them. And they told others, who began plotting against me."   
  
"Then he is guilty of treason as well." Kinvara said.   
  
"Yes, and he will be punished." Dany promised. "But that will not happen until I reach Westeros."  
  
"We will prepare to leave for Westeros at once." Daario began. "I will gather my men, and..."  
  
"No." Dany cut him off. "I need your men here, to protect my city, as they have been doing. I mean to go to Westeros in secret."  
  
"But, we will need men."  
  
"My armies are still in Westeros, when I arrive, I will gather them, and what remains of my allies."  
  
"Who is left?" Daario asked.  
  
"Only the Ironborn, as far as I know, their queen is still loyal to me. Dorne, Tyrell, they are gone." Dany sighed.   
  
"And who are our enemies?" Kinvara spoke up.  
  
"Everyone." Dany said.  
  
"Well, that makes things easier." Daario muttered, and Dany turned to Kinvara.  
  
"When I leave, you will rule in my place. Daario has told me you chose to stay and support my rule rather than return to Volantis, and you have proved yourself trustworthy." Kinvara inclined her head.   
  
"It is my honor." she replied.  
  
"You and I, will fly back to Westeros, after I prepare." Dany directed her words at Daario.  
  
"Fly, your Grace?" Daario said with a laugh. "You can't mean..."  
  
"I do mean that." Dany said. "You are going to ride a dragon, Daario Naharis."   
  
"With all due respect, I already have." Daario said cheekily, and Dany shot him an unimpressed look out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"What preparations do you wish to make?" Kinvara said, forestalling any further remarks from Daario.   
  
"I want armor made, for Drogon and for myself." Dany said, her fingers rubbing her wound through the cloth covering it. "Call the best blacksmiths and metalworkers, tell them to make the armor impenetrable. I have left myself vulnerable for too long."  
  
"That is a wise precaution, your Grace." Kinvara praised, and Dany smiled.  
  
"Leave me now." she said, and Kinvara went, but Daario lingered behind. "I told you to go." Dany informed him imperiously.  
  
"I have a question, your Grace." Daario said quickly.  
  
"Ask it." Dany ordered.  
  
Daario hesitated for a moment.  
  
"How is it...to ride a dragon?"  
  
Dany did not speak for a moment.  
  
"It is like nothing you have ever felt before." Dany began finally."You are up there in the sky, beyond everything, you feel nothing, you hear nothing, except for the dragon under you and the air around you." she approached Daario, reaching a hand out and trailing it over Daario's face. "I feel alive when I am on a dragon's back, Daario."  
  
Daario gently took her hand, and turned it over, brushing his lips aganst the spot on her wrist where her pulse fluttered.  
  
"You are a true dragon then, your Grace. You make me feel alive." Daario whispered.  
  
Dany let her hand linger in Daario's grasp a few moments more, then withdrew it.   
  
"Leave me." Dany said firmly. Daario bowed, and left, but he was smiling as he went.  
  


* * *

 

The next day, Daario left his chambers at sunrise, and rode around the city, rounding up the blacksmiths and metalworkers. By the time Dany emerged from her chambers robed, her hair unbraided but pinned back, he had herded them into the throne room of the Pyramid, and was sitting sprawled on the steps, waiting for her to arrive.  
  
"Rise." Dany said curtly when she saw him. She ascended the steps and sat on the stone bench on the elevated dais, looking down at the small gathering below. Daario rose with a grin.  
  
"Here are the blacksmiths and metal workers, as you requested, your Grace." Daario said in lieu of introduction. Dany thanked him with a nod, and turned her attention the men.  
  
"You are the best in your craft in Mereen?" Dany questioned.  
  
"Yes, your Grace." they chorused.   
  
"I require your services, you will be paid handsomely for your work." Dany assured them. "I require armor, the finest and strongest you can make, for me, and for my dragon."  
  
The men muttered, looking at one another.  Finally, one, an aging man, spoke up.  
  
"Your Grace, armoring a dragon is impossible. We must measure, fit the armor to the wearer, and your dragon will not allow us to near him."  
  
"He will not hurt you. I will see to that." Dany responded. "Come to the pits at noon today, and you can measure him, and begin your task." the man bowed.  
  
"Thank you, your Grace."   
  
"As for my armor, I have but one request. That it cannot be damaged by a blade." Dany said.   
  
"It will be done, your Grace." the old man said.  
  
"You are dismissed." Dany said. As the men went out, leaving only Daario, another figure came in. Kinvara came up the steps to the dais, and Dany stood to greet her.   
  
"Another scroll has come from Westeros, my Queen." Kinvara said, holding it out to Dany, who took it, and broke its seal. Daario came up the stairs two by two, and in a low voice, Dany read the words on the scroll.   
  
"Do not do what you plan to do."  
  
Daario looked at Dany, silently asking for an explanation, but it was Kinvara who spoke.  
  
"Someone knows you intend to return to Westeros, my Queen." the priestess said.   
  
"But who could know?" Daario broke in. "We heard Tyrion's letter, they all believe she is dead."  
  
"Then there is one in Westeros who knows the truth." Kinvara concluded. But Dany spoke up.  
  
"No news of my resurrection and plans could have reached Westeros so fast. Either I have been betrayed again, or..." her words faded off into a silence that lasted mintues. "Jon Snow's brother." Dany said finally, her fingers crushing the paper. "He knows." 


	5. Child Of Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who would be interested in seeing Dany and Drogon's armor and sword? I created art for this story, and I'll share if anyone wants to see it.   
> I'm thinking of also making comic strips for this story, since it's getting really special to me, and I want to bring it to life.

Dany dropped the crumpled scroll onto the bench beside her, and sank down beside it, clenching her hands together. Daario stared at her expectantly, and noted that she was trembling.  
  
"This will not stop me." she said in low voice after a few moments. "I have been told to stop, to hold back, and each time I did, I lost what was mine. I will not allow the words of others to dissuade me from doing what I wish to do."   
  
"If he knows you are coming, he'll tell others, and they will be prepared for you." KInvara countered.   
  
"But who would believe him?" Daario objected. "Westerosi will hardly believe the tale of one rising from the dead."   
  
"I have faced monsters, beings made of ice, who raise the dead. I fought against them for Jon Snow's sake." Dany said. "People in Westeros are willing to believe much more now...and there is something else." Dany looked at Kinvara as she spoke.   
  
"...When I first met Jon Snow, I was told that he had taken a knife to the heart for his people. I did not pay much attention to those words, but I saw the wounds. No man could have survived that. And now..."  
  
"You think he was also raised?" Kinvara asked. "It is possible."   
  
"A priestess of the Lord of Light came to Dragonstone, Melisandre." Dany added.  
  
"Melisandre is known to me." Kinvara replied. "I do now believe that Jon Snow was raised, as you suspect."  
  
Daario, who had been following the conversation with critical attention, spoke up.   
  
"You said that the one who knows is Jon Snow's brother. If he tells Jon Snow-"  
  
"Jon Snow will believe him." Dany confirmed. "And they will prepare to annihilate me when I come."   
  
"Who is Jon Snow's brother?" Kinvara asked.  
  
"His name is Bran Stark, he can see the past, present, and the future, he says he is the three-eyed Raven." Dany said.  
  
"Is he a sorcerer? A priest that sees with magic?" Daario asked, but Dany shook her head.   
  
"He has visions, and does not practice magic, to my knowledge."   
  
Daario ran a hand over his face.  
  
"How...do we prevent him from seeing what we are doing now? Or what we will do?" he asked.  
  
"I do not know." Dany said, looking at Kinvara. But the priestess shook her head.  
  
"Such a being is unknown to me, I do not know how to counter his abilities. But, if your Grace permits it, I will began to search for some defense."  
  
"Do so." Dany agreed. "For now, I will continue my plans, there is nothing else to be done."  Kinvara nodded, and swept away in a rustle of red cloth, leaving Daario and Dany alone.   
  
Dany rose.  
  
"I will be my chambers until noon." she informed Daario. "If anyone wishes to see me, tell them that they must wait until tomorrow."  
  
"Yes, your Grace."  
  
Dany went down the stairs, and Daario followed her. Dany stopped that the end of the stairs, looking over her shoulder at Daario.  
  
"I did not give you permission to come with me."  
  
"Forgive me, your Grace, but I-" Dany held up a hand.  
  
"No, wait. Do come with me, I need you to help me with something." Daario bowed, and Dany walked on. She went to her chambers, and took a seat on a low couch, facing away from Daario, and pushed her loose hair over her shoulders, letting it stream down her back. "Cut it." she said.   
  
"Your Grace?" Daario said in confusion. "Cut...your hair?" Dany nodded.  
  
"Are you familiar with the customs of the Dorthraki? My brother told me-" here Dany scoffed, "He told me that when Khals are defeated, they cut off their hair, so that everyone may know their shame. I was defeated, I failed my Khalasar, and I have no rights to braids or my hair."  
  
Daario began to pull his knife from its sheath, then paused.  
  
"You haven't been defeated, you conquered death itself, my Queen."  
  
"I was defeated." Dany repeated. "I did not claim my throne, or fullfill my promises."  
  
"You claimed it, but it was stolen again by treachery. You'll fulfill your promises when you go back to Westeros, and gain many more braids." Daario said in one breath. Dany shifted to look at him, her expression unreadable for a moment, her fingers reaching up and brushing through her hair.  
  
"Very well then." Dany said, letting her hand drop. "I won't cut it. Leave me, but guard my chambers."  
  
Daario sheathed his knife and bowed, heading to the entrance to her rooms. Alone, Dany stood and went to her balcony, gazing up at Drogon, who was still perched on the pyramid's topmost point. The dragon gazed back at her, his slitted eyes warm, affectionate in a way only Dany knew. Dany smiled, reaching a hand up towards him, and slowly, Drogon lowered his long neck, pressing his snout against her hand.  
  
Dany murmured endearments in Valyrian, and Drogon rumbled in response, answering the best he could. 

* * *

  
When Dany emerged from her chambers hours later, Daario was there, standing dutifully by her door. 

"I'm going to the pits now." Dany informed him. "I'll ride Drogon to them, you take a group of your men and meet me there."  
  
"Your Grace." Daario responded.  
  
  
When Drogon landed in the arena, kicking up sand and settling with growling and rumbling, the blacksmiths gawked and mumbled, while Daario stood off to the side, appearing unfazed. Dany climbed off Drogon's neck, keeping one hand on his scaled skin, and beckoned with the other.  
  
"Approach." she said. The men came forward warily, shrinking back when Drogon bared his teeth. Dany said something in a low voice, and Drogon receded, lifting his head and allowing the men to approach. They stayed in a knot at first, examining his scales and feet, then slowly broke apart when they began to measure him, throwing marked ropes over his back, and holding them across his chest and hind legs.  
  
Drogon withstood their prodding with remarkable patience, while Dany watched everything with a critical eye, keep one hand always on Drogon. One of the blacksmiths stepped away from his group, and came towards Daenerys, stopping a few feet from her when Daario looked in his direction.  
  
"I am not from here." the man said in a flat, low voice.

"Neither am I." Dany answered pleasantly, but her expression was guarded and and confused. The man continued as if she had not spoken in the same dull tone.  
  
"I am from Westeros." he said. Dany drew back, her fingers clenching around Drogon's scales, opening her mouth to call for Daario. But the man held up a hand.  
  
"Don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm."  
  
"Who are you?" Dany asked in a low voice, her eyes narrowing.   
  
"I am Bran Stark. I speak through this body."  
  
Dany's eyes widened in amazement, but she held her composure.   
  
"I recieved your message. Are you here to kill me? To stop me from returning Westeros? " she questioned, her voice dropping low enough to protect her words from listening ears.  
  
"As I have told you, I mean you no harm."  the man assured her. "I am merely here to tell you that returning to Westeros will bring you more suffering." Dany's face hardened.  
  
"I have already suffered." Dany said. "I have suffered death, and I will return Westeros, and bring death to those that caused mine."  
  
"Then so be it, if that is what you choose. I cannot keep you from doing what you will do." the man replied.  
  
"Then why did you send that message to me?" Dany demanded.  
  
"A king must at least try to protect his subjects. So I sent that message, though I knew it would be of no use."

 "...King? Do you now sit on the Iron Throne?"  
  
"I would, if there were a Iron Throne left to sit on. But I am afraid your dragon did not take kindly to it."    
  
Dany looked at Drogon, a question in her eyes, but she quickly looked back at the man.  
  
"If you know what I am to do, why do you not do more to stop me now than sending a letter? Or will you tell everyone, and stop me when I return to Westeros?" The man smiled, but it was a rigid, unnatural smile.  
  
"I will not do anything to aid you, or to hinder you, nor tell anyone. I prefer to only watch. I leave the heroics to those with functional legs."   
  
Dany's lips thinned.   
  
"You have watched the entire time, haven't you? You knew the outcome of the wars, who would die, who would live. You saw that your bother would kill me, and you saw that I would die, and you did not prevent it." Dany said accusingly.

"But I knew you would live again. And I did nothing to prevent that either. Ponder that." the man said, and then the smile and the flat voice were gone, and Dany was staring into the eyes of a man who stared back at her in confusion.

"Return to your work." Dany ordered, and the man bowed and turned away.  
  
Dany shivered as he left, and she pressed against Drogon, into the warmth of his hard scales.  


  
It was nearly night when Dany returned to the pyramid, Drogon returned to his perch atop the pyramid, and Dany returned to her chambers, refusing food, but asking for Daario and Kinvara.  
  
"I spoke to Bran Stark." Dany said without preamble when they entered.   
  
"How?" Daario said. "He's in Westeros, and you are...here. Did you return his message?"  
  
"No such thing." Dany said. "The smith who approached me in the pits...Bran Stark spoke through him. He was using his body-"   
  
"Such ones are called wargs." Kinvara interjected. "What did he say to you?"  
  
"He told me I suffer if I returned to Westeros. But then he told me he would not stop me from coming, or tell anyone. He said he'd preferred to watch, rather than take action."  
  
"Your enemy does not want to take action against you?" Daario questioned. "Can he be on your side?"  
  
"He is a strange person. Very strange. But I do not think he is on my side, he is a Stark, and he saw what would happen to me, and did not stop it, he allowed his brother to kill me." Dany said. "And now, he is ruling Westeros."   
  
"He is? Not Jon Snow?" Daario asked incredulously. Dany shook her head.  
  
"He said he was King. Many things seemed to have happened in Westeros after my death." Dany mused.   
  
"He could be lying, saying he will not try to stop you now, but then ambush you when you arrive." Daario accused. Dany lifted a flask of wine from a table near her and poured out a glass, sipping from it.  
  
"Yes, I thought of that." she said. "But it matters very little, Daario. I will go back, and face what I must face. " she looked at Kinvara. "Have you found a way to counter Bran's sight?"   
  
"No, your Grace." Kinvara said. "But if he spoke to you once, he may speak to you again. Permit me to remain beside you, so if he speaks again, I might be there to witness it."  
  
"Of course." Dany agreed. A knock sounded from outside the chambers, and Daario went out to investigate.  
  
"Your Grace, there is a smith here to see you." Daario called back.  
  
"Let him in." Dany said, and Daario returned with the aging man that she had spoken to in the throne room in the morning. He was carrying a sheaf of papers, and he bowed when he came into Dany's view.  
  
"Your Grace, these are the plans for the armor, your dragon and yours." the man explained, holding the papers out to Daario, who transferred them to Dany. She looked through them, nodding approvingly.   
  
"They are acceptable." she said. "But I wish for the armor to be engraved with the Targaryen symbol."  
  
"As you wish, your Grace." the man said bowing. Dany held up a hand.  
  
"One more request. Make a sword for me as well."     
  
   

  
   
  
  
 


	6. Child of Strife

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is a little thing: The Jon/Daenerys tag is on this story because Jon/Daenerys will happen in some capacity in this story, as well as all the other ships I've tagged. That's why I...tagged them? Let me clarify, an interaction/interactions will happen between Jon and Daenerys, that is an interaction between a couple. So I tagged that upcoming interaction as Jon/Daenerys. Thank you.

"A sword, your Grace?" Daario loudly whispered to Dany as the man left the chambers. "It will be no use to you, you do not know how to fight with one."  
  
"Then it will be your job to teach me." Dany retorted. "It will be some weeks before Drogon's armor is completed, you have until then to teach me how to properly wield a sword."  
  
"You have your dragon, your Grace, you have no need to learn swordsmanship." Daario objected. Dany's eyes flashed.  
  
"Those monsters of ice that I spoke of, I fought them, Jorah and I fought them. I did not know how to, I merely had sharpened dragonglass and no training. But I fought, and Jorah fought, and died protecting me. Perhaps, if I had known how to wield a weapon correctly, Jorah might not have died."  
  
Daario was silent.  
  
"I will train you." he said finally.

 

* * *

"The first thing you must know, is how to properly handle a sword." Daario said, emphasizing his words by holding out his own. Dany had clutched hers awkwardly, in a two handed grip, much to the sellsword's amusment.   
  
Daario had began Dany's training her chambers the next day, after Dany had ended her audience with the people. He had bundled her in leather pads and gave her the lightest sword he could find, but still, he had much to accomplish.   
  
"It is a sword, not a bargepole, your Grace. Loosen your wrist." Dany's grip slackened ever so slightly, and Daario shook his head, but did not comment further.  
  
"Strike my sword." Daario said, keeping his outstretched. Dany swung, not connecting the two blades even in the slightest, and causing her to spin half a turn.  
  
"Restrain your force, your Grace." Daario advised. "You cannot use a sword as a dragon uses fire, spewing it everywhere and letting it hit what it can." Dany gave him a look that clearly told him to be quiet if he valued his life, then adjusted her grip on the sword's hilt, and swung again, this time connecting metal with metal.  
  
"Good." Daario said. "At least you might be able to bludgeon your enemy to death."   
  
Dany twisted the sword over with her fingers.  
  
"Dragonglass was lighter." she said.  
  
"Swords are not feathers, my Queen." Daario responded. "You must be strong in the arms, sturdy in the chest, and firm on your feet to use one."   
  
"And am I?" Dany said.  
  
"You will be." Daario promised.

* * *

  
The next day was better. Dany had insisted on keeping the sword in her chambers, and Daario suspected she had practiced with it throughout the night, since she was now able to hit his sword with hers with slight increase in ease.  
  
Kinvara, true to her request, was in the room with the two, standing in a corner, and watching silently, but intently.  
  
"How many of the ice monsters did you kill?" Daario asked, after Dany had swung too high and had nearly rid him of a finger.  
  
Dany paused, shrugging.  
  
"Five...maybe ten. I didn't count, I just killed." Dany said.  
  
"When you are in the middle of battle, there is no time to count, just to kill." Daario said, and Dany heard a hint of approval in his voice. "After it's over, other people will do the counting for you."  
  
"I wonder who will do the counting in King's Landing." Dany said in low voice. Daario looked at her questioningly. "I killed them, you know. I killed so many of them." Dany continued.  
  
"Who?"  
  
Dany carefully leaned her sword against the wall nearest to her, and gravitated towards her balcony.   
  
"The people of King's Landing." Dany admitted. "I took Drogon, and I burnt the city. Nearly burnt it to ashes."  
  
"Why?" was Daario's next monosyllabic question. Dany shook her head.   
  
"I don't know...it was if some outside force made me do it, made me do things I wouldn't dream of doing..." Dany sighed and went on. "But the bells sounded, and I remember thinking of Jorah, Misssandei...Cersei beheaded her, you know...my children, both killed with spears...and these people had done it. If I had done what I wanted from the beginning, and taken King's Landing when I arrived in Westeros, I would be on the throne. And those I cared for would have lived. But everyone told me to hold back, to wait, for the sake of these people. And I lost so much because of them, I lost so much because of the people of Westeros, and not just those in King's Landing. So I burned them." she finished.  
  
Daario was silent for several seconds.  
  
"I said I wouldn't become my father, and I did."  Dany said into the silence. Daario shook his head.  
  
"You aren't your father. You just repaid death, with death."  
  
"But they were innocent people." Dany argued.  
  
"Except for young children, do you think anyone is truly innocent? People, no matter who or where they are, cheat, scheme, steal, kill, rape, plot. Evil is not limited to the higher classes. I would know." the sellsword said.    
  
"I wanted to make the world a better place for them. Not kill them. What I did was madness." Dany insisted.  
  
"Then it was madness. In battle, madness takes hold of every man...every person." Daario amended. From the corner, Kinvara spoke up.   
  
"Those people were subjects of an unlawful queen, and followers of a wayward religion. The Lord of Light will accept them as an offering from the one who was promised."  
  
Dany walked out onto her balcony.  
  
"Neither of you are helping." she informed the two behind her. "What I did was wrong, evil even, and I know it. But I don't feel remorseful...I don't feel much of anything. Tell me it's wrong, tell me I shouldn't have done it. Tell me I was evil to do it. Make me feel something for them."  
  
"If it is remorse you wish for, it will come in time." Kinvara soothed. "But now is not the time to dwell on past deeds."   
  
"If I look back, I am lost." Dany recited.  
  
"Indeed." Kinvara answered. Dany turned to look at her.  
  
"But I do not want to become my father." Dany said, her voice slow, pleading, but laced with conviction. "I cannot become him."  
  
"You will not. That you wish to feel remorse for your deeds is proof enough that your father's legacy is not yours. Mistakes are made, innocents die in war. Win your throne, and then seek to atone for the actions that gave it to you."  
  
Dany was quiet, then she walked back to her sword, picking it back up. Daario moved into position in front of her, and the ring of metal against metal filled the room.

 

* * *

"There must be force behind the thrust." Daario motioned with his own sword, stabbing into the air with it. Dany copied his action, though her sword wobbled.  
  
"Again." Daario said. Dany repeated the stabbing motion, and Daario shook his head, putting his sword down and circling around her, pressing against her back, and moving his arm alongside hers, grabbing her wrist.

He drew her arm back, then drew it forward.  
  
"Like this, your Grace." he whispered, his breath hot against her neck. The warm air raised the hairs on the back of Dany's neck, and she spun away from him. Daario grinned, stretching out his arms, leaving his front unprotected it.   
  
"Stab me, your Grace." he invited. Dany completed the motion slowly, ending it with the dull tip of her sword pressed against Daario's chest. But the sword had not wobbled this time.

* * *

  
Dany's arms shook as the vibration of Daario's sword clashing against hers ran down them. But she kept her fingers tightly around the hilt of her sword, willing her arms to be steady.  
  
"Hold the sword with only one hand." Daario said. Dany had learned by now how to hold her sword correctly, with one hand and with both, but she favored both hands, a habit Daario was trying to break her from.  
  
Dany let one hand fall from the hilt, and Daario nodded, brandishing his own sword.

"Now swing." he said. Dany swung upwards, and Daario swung downwards to meet her sword. The swords met, and Dany gritted her teeth, locking her arm, and was gratified to feel her arm hold steady.  
  
She laughed breathily, and  noticed that Daario's expression was pleased. 

* * *

"Use your feet, your Grace. You cannot simply stand, and wait for your enemies to come to you, you have to go to them." Daario demonstrated by moving and hacking down imaginary attackers, but Dany shook her head.  
  
"You be my attacker, I might do better if it seems more real." she said. Daario moved into the center of the room, taking an aggressive stance. Tightening her grip on her sword's hilt, Dany moved against him.    
   
Daario stepped back, shifted, and swung his sword, tapping it lightly against Dany's padded side.  
  
"You are dead, your Grace." he said. Dany lunged at him, but he stepped to the side, easily avoiding it. "Use your feet." he repeated. "You are small, and when you are small, quickness is your advantage."

* * *

Dany ducked, then nimbly scurried back, keeping Daario within sight. He came towards her, and she shifted in the opposite direction. But he wasn't dissuaded, and advanced on her. Dany stepped back and to the side, and Daario copied her movements.  
  
They circled each other, their swords pointed at the other. Their chests rose and fell with exertion, and Dany's eyes darted over and around Daario, searching for a way out of the circle.  
  
Dany's footwork and handling of a sword had improved greatly, and she could now withstand a brief attack from Darrio. As Darrio had said, with her small frame, her advantage was her quickness.  
  
Dany darted forward, and feinted a dash to the right, but instead went left, attempting to strike at Darrio's leg as she went past. Daario's sword came down, guarding his leg, and clashed with hers, sending her back.  
  
Dany stumbled, her legs hitting one of the low couches in the room, and causing her to fall backwards onto it, landing stretched out on her back and supported only by one elbow.   
  
Without reprieve, Daario brought his sword down on her, and Dany kept him from landing the false killing blow, by bringing her sword up to meet his.   
  
They remained that way for a moment, swords crossed, staring at one another. Then Dany reached out a leg, hooking it around Daario's knee.  
  
"Put your sword down." she commanded. Daario did as he was told, leaning his sword against the armrest of the couch, and Dany dropped her arm, letting her sword clatter to the floor.  
  
"You are a good teacher." Dany said. Daario leaned over her, bracing himself with his hands on either side of her head, smiling down at her.  
  
"I have told you, your Grace, I am good at only two things. Killing, and women. And now, I have both. What more could a man such as me wish for?"  
  
"I wouldn't pretend to know." Dany said. Daario kissed her then, his hands reaching up to weave into her hair, that despite the vigor of training, she had insisted remain loose. Dany's arms wound around his neck, and she returned his kiss. 

Kinvara silently rose from where she had been sitting in front of a flaming brazier, and left the room.    
  
 


	7. Child Of Action

Dany woke to the feeling of fingers in her hair. She opened her eyes, coming face to face with Daario. The sellsword smiled at her, and Dany sat up, pulling the covers around her bare shoulders.  
  
Daario's fingers danced over her spine, and Dany relaxed into the touch.  
  
"I missed you, you know." Daario said.  
  
"I didn't miss you at first, but I think now that I should have brought you with me." Dany returned. Daario gave a low laugh.   
  
"Can I say I told you so, my Queen?" he asked.  
  
"You may." Dany conceeded.  
  
"I told you so." Daario whispered, rising up and planting a kiss on Dany's shoulder. Dany slid out of bed, drawing the covers with her.  
  
"You'll have a chance to fight for me, when we return to Westeros. I plan to go to the Iron Islands first, and gather my allies that are there. I will need ships if I am to move against Winterfell." Dany told him, making her way to the table and pouring herself a glass of cool wine. Daario watched her.   
  
"You should have something more solid than that." he remarked.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not becoming a drunkard like my late Hand." Dany said.   
  
Daario snorted.  
  
"No, of course not, but you haven't eaten anything other than grapes and wine since you returned."  
  
"Varys was trying to poison me. My appetite has not yet recovered from that betrayal." Dany shot back, sipping her wine. Daario got up.  
  
"At least eat some bread or meat. If you fear poison, have your dragon hunt and roast you a sheep or boar."  
  
"I don't have the stomach for what my dragons...dragon eats, not after they brought me the body of that girl." Dany said.  
  
Daario sighed.  
  
"You are hard to please, your Grace."  
  
"You please me well enough." Dany said, draining her glass. Daario shrugged.  
  
"My duty is to serve my Queen."  
  
"Then serve me without talking about food." Dany ordered. Daario put his shirt and trousers back on, running his fingers through his hair.   
  
"As my Queen wishes." the sellsword acquiesced, moving to exit the room. "But I'll have them send you some cheese with your grapes."  
  
Irritated, Dany turned to address Daario, but he had already gone. 

* * *

  
Dany came to the throne room sometime later, and was met by the elderly blacksmith. The man bowed low.   
  
"Your Grace, the armor has been completed." he said. Dany stood, looking at Kinvara who was to her left.   
  
"Remain here, and see to the people." she commanded. Kinvara assented with a nod, and Dany went down the stairs, leaving with the man, and with Daario, who had materialized with a guard of several of his men.  
  
The guard was not necessary, Dany flew Drogon to the pit where Drogon's armor was laid out, being polished by the smiths. The pieces lay in the sand, gleaming and huge, and in a fleeting bit of childishness, Dany fancied that a giant had left them there.

She dismounted Drogon, and walked to the armor, inspecting the pieces. They were made from black metal, and upholstered and strapped with leather. The Targayen symbol was on the breastplate, and shone a deep red color.  
  
"Put it on him." Dany ordered, indicating Drogon. She turned to Daario, who had since arrived with his men. "We leave today." she told him. "Did you have the supplies brought here?"  
  
"Yes." Daario said.  
  
"Very well." Dany continued. "Let us return to the pyramid and prepare for departure."  
  
Daario nodded.  
  
"Have him armored by my return." Dany said to the smiths, then left the pit, escorted by Daario and his men.

* * *

  
  
"Dress warmly." Dany said as she and Daario parted ways back in the pyramid, Dany went to her chambers to dress, Daario to complete the preparations.  
  
Kinvara was waiting for Dany in her chambers, standing by a steaming tub of water. Laying on Dany's bed, was armor, a breastplate, pauldrons and greaves, made of the same metal and colored as Drogon's armor was.  
  
"Permit me to bathe and dress you, your Grace." Kinvara said.  
  
Dany nodded, undoing the lacing on the gown she was wearing, and stepped out of it. She shed the trousers and boots she was wearing beneath it as well, and stepped into the tub, sinking into the hot water. She felt Kinvara's fingers go into her hair, pulling apart the curling strands and drenching them in water. Then a bunched cloth was smoothed over her neck and shoulders, brushing away the sand from the pit that had collected on her skin.   
  
Neither woman spoke as Dany bathed, but the room was warm, thanks to the braziers that had been lighted, and Dany felt comfortable, and ease, for the first time in quite a while.  
  
When the bath ended, Dany rose and stood with her back to a brazier, drying off her hair. Kinvara brought Dany her clothes, and Dany put them on. First, trousers made out of a dark and thick cloth, then leather boots that rose past her knees. Then a thin shirt, and a red dress that was textured with overlaying leather flaps, creating the illusion of dragon's scales.  
  
"It will serve you as well as chainmail." Kinvara said of the dress.  
  
Then came the armor. A light, fitted breastplate, that buckled at the sides and covered Dany's entire chest. Dant breathed deeply as the metal enclosed her torso, she had expected it would feel as a cage would, but instead it clung to her body, as if it was truly her own skin that was made of iron. And Dany felt protected.  
  
The pauldrons were next, Kinvara mounted them on her shoulders and buckled them into place. Then, a stiff leather collar, stamped with the Targaryen symbol, and matching vambraces of the same material.  
  
Last were the greaves, they buckled over Dany's shins, and Dany could feel their weight as she took a step forward.  
  
"You look truly a warrior, my Queen." Kinvara remarked. Dany mustered a faint smile in response.  
  
"My sword?" Dany asked.  
  
Kinvara took the sword from where it had been resting, and offered the hilt to Dany. A ruby gleamed at the end of the hilt, and for the first time, Dany noticed that Kinvara's neck was bare.  
  
"Your jewel..." Dany began.  
  
"It will serve you better on your sword, my Queen, than on my neck." the priestess said. Dany's fingers curled around the hilt of the sword, lifting it, feeling its weight as Daario had taught her. Then she strapped it to her waist, slowly buckling and adjusting its belt.  
  
Kinvara watched her, her dark eyes following Dany's every move closely. From the sleeve of her dress, Kinvara pulled something that made Dany's breath catch.  
  
"You may wish to have this as well, my Queen." Kinvara said, offering Dany the hilt of Jon Snow's knife. The knife that had killed her.  
  
Dany took the knife, her fingers clenching around the hilt. She stared down at the blade, her breath shaky and harsh.   
  
Kinvara went behind Dany, and slowly started to weave her hair back from her face, and into a braid that hung like a thick rope down her back. Dany was silent all the while, her eyes focused solely on the knife she held.  
  
As Kinvara tied off the braid, Dany slid the knife into her belt, her breath now steady.  
  
They left the room together, and met Daario and his men in the throne room. The sellsword was dressed in thick cotton and light furs, and Dany nodded approvingly. Daario's eyes wandered over Dany's own clothes, taking in her armor amd sword, and coming to rest on the distinctive dagger lodged in her belt.  
  
His eyes went to hers, and a question was behind his gaze. But Dany shook her head.  
  


* * *

 

 

 They arrived, the three of them, Dany, Daario, and Kinvara, in the pit a short time later, and were met with the sight of a fully armored Drogon. Polished metal shone on his chest, legs, and thighs, and a huge helmet was on his head, shaped and molded to accommodate it. The supplies Dany had requested were strapped to his back as well, only a light burden to his massive frame.   
  
Dany regarded him with pride. The dragon saw her and roared in greeting.   
  
Dany came forward, and Drogon inclined his head to meet her. Dany drew her sword, the feel and weight of it still unfamiliar to her fingers and arm. It was one matter to train, and another matter entirely to complete the movements without assistance.  
  
  
Drogon's slitted eyes tracked his mother's actions in interest, and Dany laid the sword in the sand, just beneath his snout. 

"Dracarys." she said stepping back, and Drogon breathed fire on the sword. Dany waved him back after only had seconds had passed, she was afraid he would melt the blade otherwise. As it was, the sword was nearly white hot, and Dany waited til she was sure it had cooled to lift it from the sand and sheath it.  
  
"What will you name it?" Kinvara asked from behind. Dany turned, her hand on the hilt of her sword.   
  
"I don't know." Dany said.

"A name will come, in time. Do not force one upon it before it is ready." Kinvara said.   
  
Dany nodded, breathing deeply.   
  
"Thank you for your advice, and your aid, for when I was living, and when I was dead. I will leave now, knowing I leave my people here in the hands of a good ruler." Dany said solemnly. "I owe you my life, Kinvara of Volantis." Dany added, pure gratitude infusing her voice.  
  
"It is my honor to serve you." Kinvara replied, just as solemnly. "You are the one who was promised, and your death would have been death to us all. Farewell now, Daenerys Stormborm, and take care, for the night is dark, and full of terrors." Kinvara ended her small speech with a bow, and Dany inclined her own head in response, then turned away towards Drogon.

Daario's farewell was brief, he gave short orders to his men that had accompanied him, then approached Kinvara, taking her hand and kissing the back of it lightly, before following Dany.   
  
Dany climbed atop Drogon's back, and Daario copied her every move, glancing warily down at Drogon from time to time. Dany sat astride Drogon's neck, and felt Daario settle behind her, his arms going around her waist. With a fluid movement, Drogon was airborne, and the ground was suddenly far below them, and the sky much closer.   
  
With a beat of his powerful wings, Drogon had flown beyond the pit, and was now heading out towards the sea, and Westeros.    
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
 


	8. Child Of Loyalty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a picture of Dany in her armor at the bottom of the chapter. I meant to post it two chapters ago, but enjoy it now.

The flight to Westeros had been an experience for Daario. They had flown straight, not stopping to rest. Daario had asked once if Drogon would tire, but Dany merely smiled.  
  
  
"Don't worry, he's strong." Dany had said, which was not very reassuring to Darrio, but he didn't contest Dany. They had spent the entire flight to Westeros on Drogon's back, eating and drinking from the food supplies that Dany had packed, which were mostly dried fruit and meat, and water and wine. They slept in shifts, but Dany was the most alert, and Daario would fall asleep more often than her.  
  
They had no want for warmth, Daario had his furs and the heat of Drogon's body, and Daenerys did not seem to be affected by the cold. Even as they approached Westeros, and cold gusts of wind blew, chilling Daario to the bone, Dany's skin remained warm to the touch.

They descended on the Iron Islands during the cover of night. Dany had flown Drogon low and fast when Westeros appeared on the horizon, keeping to the sea and avoiding any civilization, so Drogon would not be seen.  
  
Daario heartily approved of her strategy, there would be an outcry if Drogon was spotted, and and an even greater one if Daenerys was seen on his back.  
  
  
"It is just like the time I snuck into your camp to present you with the heads of my comrades." Daario had said, and Dany laughed. But the jovial mood disappeared when Dany landed Drogon on Pyke, on the castle itself.

* * *

  
Men came running from within the castle, pointing, shouting, brandishing their weapons at the hulking dragon. Then Dany dismounted, with Daario close behind her, and Drogon lowered them to the floor with his wing. The men that had assembled recoiled.  
  
"I am here to see your Queen, Yara Greyjoy." Dany announced in a loud, clear voice. "Let her know that I am here, and tell her to meet with me. Attempt any treachery, and you will die." Dany said, indicating Drogon.  
  
Some of the men retreated to the castle, muttering and dazed, while the rest stayed as if frozen, gaping at Dany.  
  
Dany stared back at them, unfazed, her and Drogon's armor gleaming dimly in light of the torches that they carried.  
  
It didn't take long for Yara to appear, she rushed out, surrounded by her men, not more than a few minutes later. The color drained from her face when she saw Dany, standing in the glow of the flickering torchlight. She stood rooted to the ground much like the rest of her men, her mouth drooping open for several seconds.  
  
"What the _fuck!_ They said you were dead!" Yara gasped out, breaking her silence explosively, shock and fear budding in her eyes, her breath coming and going in short bursts.   
  
"I am not, as you can see." Dany replied calmly, taking a step forward. Yara held her ground.  
  
"Are you some sort of...ghost?" Yara challenged. "I don't believe much in old wives' tales, but you cannot be alive."  
  
"I am afraid I did not stay dead as long as my enemies hoped." Dany said.  
  
Yara appeared to regain some of her composure on hearing Dany's quizzical answer, and looked to her men, and then back at Dany.  
  
"Did you somehow survive a killing blow, or fake your death?" Yara hazarded, her eyes going pointedly to the armor Dany wore.  
  
Dany shook her head.  
  
"You won't believe me if I tell you."  
  
"I'm prepared to believe anything now, your Grace." Yara said breathlessly, her gaze darting for the first time to the dark shape of the dragon behind Dany.  
  
A small smile touched the corner of Dany's lips at the title of _your Grace_.    
  
"Let's just say, I was fortunate enough to have subjects who remained loyal to me. Because of their loyalty, I am here today."  
  
"And why are you _here?_ " Yara questioned, her stance tightening as a new thought occurred to her. "Did you come to kill me?"   
  
Dany shook her head, smiling.  
  
"No. I came to see if you were still loyal to me. I intend to reclaim my throne, and Westeros, and lay waste to my enemies, but my conquest would be quicker if I had help."   
  
Yara smiled, although it was plain that she was still shaken.    
  
"The Iron Islands, are yours, your Grace." Yara said.   
  
"And their Queen?" Dany inquired.  
  
"I am no longer a Queen." Yara said. "But you are my Queen, and I will aid you in any way I can."  
  
"And why are you not a Queen?" Dany persisted, walking up to Yara. "Did another contender for your throne suddenly appear? That does seem to be norm nowadays." Dany added offhandedly.  
  
Yara waved her men away, and they drew back a few feet.  
  
"The new King didn't see fit to let me keep my titles."  
  
Dany frowned.  
  
"King Bran-"  
  
"Bran the Broken." Yara sneered. "That's his new title. He did well for himself, for a cripple."   
  
"Indeed." Dany remarked in a low voice. "Although I had assumed Jon Snow would be King."  
  
"Jon Snow was packed off to the North, that was his sentence for killing you." Yara said. "The Unsullied should have took his head."   
  
"So, Jon is King in the North again?" Dany hazarded.  
  
"No." Yara said.

 "Who rules the North, if not Jon Snow?" Dany asked.  
  
"Sansa Stark has been named Queen in the North now." Yara snorted. "The King is her brother, of course he gave her Northern independence, and said to hell with the rest of us."  

"She gained that throne by aiding my betrayers." Dany said. Yara frowned.  
  
"I never much did like that redheaded bitch, although Theon spoke fondly of her." Yara said. "I tried to seek justice for you, I wanted Jon Snow executed, but of course she was against it."   
  
"These Starks, they stick together." Dany replied unironically.  
  
  
  
Yara spotted Daario, who had come forward to stand on Dany's left side.  
  
"Who's your friend?"  
  
"This Daario Naharis, leader of the Second Sons, and one of my councilors." Dany introduced him.  
  
"Yes, I remember him, I saw him once in Mereen." Yara said, taking a second look at Daario. "Well, shall we go in then, your Grace? We have a lot to discuss." Yara said, turning and leading the way back the castle.  
  
Dany and Daario followed her, Daario keeping a protective posture as he and Dany went through the crowd of Yara's men.  
  
  
Yara led them into the castle, into the room she had been in before Dany arrived. She shut, and locked the double doors, warding off any of the curious men that had followed her and her guests, and went her seat by the fireplace, although she didn't sit down.  
  
"So, what is your plan?" Yara said without preamble.  
  
"I mean to take Winterfell first." Dany replied.  
  
"Jon Snow isn't King, your Grace, there is no reason for you to take Winterfell, he's beyond the wall, with the Night's Watch and his Wildlings." said Yara. "Just fly your dragon over the Wall and burn him, he and his men have no weapons that could stop you."   
  
But Dany shook her head.  
  
"I don't intend to kill Jon Snow just yet. He was the last one to betray me, and so he'll be the last one to die. I want the one who first spoke against me, Sansa Stark. Then, after her, I will go to King's Landing, for Tyrion and his usurper king, and last, when I have destroyed any allies and any friends that Jon Snow may have, I'll kill him. And he will feel the betrayal that I did." Dany said.  
  
Yara smiled. The smile was neither pleasant, nor unpleasant.  
  
"I do like a woman with a head for vengeance." she said. "My brother died because he wanted to fight for the Starks, and the Starks will pay the Iron Price for taking him from me." Yara paused, her hand clenching around the back of her chair. "I had just started to like that little shit." Yara said sorrowfully, glancing up at Dany. "My baby brother...if he had stayed with me, he'd still be here. But he loved the Starks too much."  
  
  
"So did I. And it only got me a knife in the heart." Dany said.  
  
"So tell me, what did Sansa Stark do to you, that you'd rather go after her first?" Yara asked, blinking rapidly to ward off tears, and taking a seat in her chair.  
  
Dany took a seat on a chair across from Yara, but Daario remained standing.  
  
"She was treasonous from the start." Dany said. "She neither liked, nor respected me, and did not make an effort to see me in a good light. I saved her country for her, and she repaid me by spreading secrets to Tyrion that brought me down."  
  
"What secrets?" Yara said.  
  
"Jon Snow...has Targayen blood." Dany said slowly. "He told Sansa, and she told Tyrion."  
  
Yara whistled, long and low.  
  
"Jon Snow is quite the bastard, isn't he? Did Ned Stark fuck some Targayen girl?"  
  
"No, Jon is the son of my eldest brother and Lyanna Stark." Dany said.  
  
Yara chuckled brokenly.  
  
"That means he's your nephew. And he knew, and he still killed you."  
  
"He's a Stark. His Targayen blood means nothing. It meant nothing to him when he killed me, and it means nothing to me now." Dany said seriously.  
  
Yara nodded.  
  
"Fuck the Starks." she said, standing back up, pacing in fron of the fire. Dany remained seated, watching her. "When do you plan to leave for Winterfell?" Yara continued.  
  
"By the sunset tomorrow." Dany said. "That should give you enough time to prepare a ship and gather men you can trust."  
  
"That will be plenty of time." Yara agreed. "But a ship full of men will not be enough to completely lay waste to Winterfell. My brother tried that, and he ended up as a Bolton slave."   
  
"I'm not going to take Winterfell just yet. All I want Sansa Stark. Once I have her, Winterfell will be leaderless, and I will come back and take it." Dany explained.  
  
"You mean to make Sansa Stark a hostage?" Yara asked.  
  
"I'll make them all hostages. Sansa, Tyrion, Bran...Jon. I'll keep them alive long enough so they can see what they love ruined." Dany said, but Yara was more interested in strategy in that moment than in the intricacies of revenge.  
  
"So, once we have Sansa-" Yara prompted.  
  
"We will sail back to Pyke, and gather a larger fleet, and then sail to Dragonstone. From Dragonstone, we will send out messages, and gather together my Unsullied and Dorthraki. And then we will be in a position to attack both Winterfell and King's Landing."  
  
"Good enough." Yara said. "I'll tell my men to gather a fleet."

Dany nodded, and stood. She approached Yara, laying a hand on her arm.   
  
"You are still a Queen." Dany said softly. "I gave you your independence, and have not revoked that. Before we sail tomorrow, I wish to see you crowned Queen of the Iron Islands."  
  
"Drowned, you mean." Yara corrected. "We Islanders drown our rulers before we crown them."  
  
"Then I will see you...drowned." Dany said.  
  
Yara smiled.  
  
"We have a big day before us then." she said. "We'd better get some rest, my rooms are the most secure, you can stay in them for the night." Yara offered. Dany shook her head.  
  
"They are your chambers, I wouldn't want to make you leave them. Besides, I had planned to sleep with Drogon."   
  
"Then I'll stay in them, if your Grace doesn't mind. Besides, I trust my men, but you would be more safe inside a castle." Yara said. Dany's lips quirked.  
  
"I am the safest on a dragon's back. But I'd like a proper bed." Dany said, then looked back at Daario, who had been listening silently but intently. "Daar-"  
  
"I'll bed down outside the door, if you don't mind." the sellsword said.  
  
Yara shrugged.  
  
"You want to protect your Queen. That's understandable."

* * *

  
  
They left the room, and Yara led them to her chambers. Her rooms were made of stone, like the rest of the castle, but were more lighted than most. Yara sent a servant at her door running off to fetch bedding for Daario, then entered her chambers with Dany.   
  
Dany cast a look around, then caught Yara's eye. Yara shrugged.  
  
"Take the bed, your Grace." Yara offered.  
  
"I'm not tired." Dany said. She walked towards one of the windows, staring out at the dusky sea beyond. Yara watched her contemplatively.  
  
"...You said over and over, that you were killed. If you were killed, how did you come back?" Yara asked.  
  
Dany put her hands on the windowsill.  
  
"In Essos, there is a priestess named Kinvara." Dany began as if she was telling a story. "Her people know how to raise the dead. Drogon took me back to Mereen after I was killed, and she raised me."  
  
Yara stood in silence for a moment.  
  
"If only it was that easy for the rest of us." Yara muttered, and walked off, disappearing into another section of her chambers. Dany remained at the window. It was a long night, and Yara came and went several times, but Dany was still at the window, gazing out at the sea.  
  
"It's too dark to see much." Yara had remarked once.  
  
"I'm not looking, I'm listening." Dany said. "One of my children died in the sea...when the waves crash, it sounds like his roar." Yara didn't answer, but smiled a little and took a seat on her bed, appreciating the curve of Dany's back and the gleam of the firelight on her armor. She was lulled to sleep by the crashing of the waves, and when she woke in the early morning, Dany was sitting on the foot of her bed, watching the sun rise through the small window.   
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  


 

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Child Of Queens

The ceremony was solemn, and was hosted on the shore of the sea. Dany stood with Daario at her side, and watched with alert eyes as Yara went beneath the water, then was drawn out and laid prone upon the shore.   
  
She laid there long enough to make Dany's breath quicken in concern, then she coughed, spitting up water, and rose slowly to her feet. The Ironborn cheered, shouting Yara's name, and amidst their cheers, an iron crown was set on Yara's head.  
  
Yara came forward towards Dany, and held out her hand. Dany extended her own, not caring about Yara's soaked sleeve, and they clasped each other's arms.    
  
"Queen Daenerys." Yara said.  
  
"Queen Yara." Dany replied.  
  
And they both smiled.  
  


* * *

 

  
Dany stood with her hands braced against the wooden railing, looking down and watching the water slide away under the ship. The sky was clear, and though the air was bitterly cold, a bright sun still shone. Occasionally the sunlight would be blocked by Drogon's massive wings, when he drew closer to the ship to seek out his mother.  
  
Wind danced over Dany, sending the strands of her hair that were loose sprawling around her, and catching in the miniature scales of her leather coat. She could taste salt on her lips, and smell damp metal as the Ironborn sharpened and tended to their weapons behind her.  
  
Daario had wandered nearly five steps away from her to exchange pleasantries with an Ironborn soldier, leaving Dany in a small niche of solitude. Though he was still close enough to spring to her defense in an instant, so Dany did not mind.   
  
Footsteps approached from behind, and Dany spun to face them. Yara offered her a smile, and went to lean against the railing.  
  
"Do you like sailing, your Grace?" she inquired.  
  
Dany nodded, her lips curving slightly.  
  
"I had wanted to be a sailor once, as a child." Dany admitted. "My brother thought very little of that idea, though." *  
  
"Oh?" Yara prompted.  
  
"I would see the merchant ships in the harbors when we lived in Pentos." Dany went on. "I was entranced, I was a little girl. I thought it would be a fine thing, to have a boat to sail...but my brother would hear none of it. We are dragons, not smelly fish, I think he said. And I never spoke to him about it again." Dany finished, meeting Yara's eyes.  
  
Yara smiled again, but her eyes were sad in a way that Dany had not seen before.  
  
  
"I was born to the sea." Yara began. "The salt and iron of my people is in my blood, if I were to be discouraged from sailing, I believe I would die."  
  
"You were lucky, to be born into a home, to have a place that you could call your own, to have people of your own blood around you." Dany said. "I was born on Dragonstone, but it was not my home, Pentos was not my home...Vaes Dothrak, Mereen...Westeros, they are not my home. I don't have a home."  
  
Yara's lips tightened, a hint of anger leaking into her eyes. She reached out, wrapping her fingers around Dany's wrist and applying a gentle pressure around it.  
  
"You will have a home, once we take Westeros back." Yara said firmly. "You are our queen, whether the people like it or not. You say you don't have a home, so make yourself a home."  
  
Dany's eyes were unreadable as she listened to Yara's proclamation, and seeking a diversion, Yara's fingers loosened, darting up to swipe over the leather scales on Dany's dress, then traveled upward to trace over the armor on Dany's shoulders.  
  
"Why the armor, your Grace?" Yara questioned in a near whisper, her fingers going to the Targaryen symbol that was stamped over Dany's collarbone. "You fight from dragonback, you have no use for armor."   
  
"When one is stabbed in the chest, one learns to appreciate the protection that armor can give." Dany answered. "My dragon cannot protect me from a knife to the heart."  
  
"True." Yara agreed, her hand finally dropping, but her eyes shifting to the sword at Dany's waist. "Can you protect yourself with that too, your Grace?"  
  
Dany put a hand on the hilt of her sword, as she had seen Daario do so many times before.  
  
"I am no great swordsman, like my brother Rhaegar was said to be, but Daario has taught me enough to keep myself from being killed." she said.  
  
Yara grinned, a look of veiled delight coming to her face.  
  
"Prove it." Yara said, her hand closing around her own sword, and in a smooth movement, unsheathed it. Daario was at Dany's side almost before Yara's sword had left its hilt, but Dany threw a hand out, stopping him in his tracks.  
  
"Your Grace?" the sellsword said uncertainly, his hand on his knife.  
  
"Relax." Yara said, lowering her blade. "I just want to see how well you have taught your queen."  
  
"You want to..duel me?" Dany asked.  
  
"Mhmm, if you wish." Yara hummed. "I won't hurt you." Dany stared at her in silence, before nodding, and began to lift her sword from its sheath.  
  
"Your Grace - " Daario started, but Dany shook her head, and Daario fell silent. Dany lifted her sword with less ease than Yara, though her movements were controlled and swift.  
  
Yara yanked off her cape, letting it pool on the floorboards, and stepped past it and Dany, going to the center of the deck, then beckoning Dany over. Dany went, and the Ironborn parted to clear a path for her to Yara, murmuring to themselves as they did.   
  
Dany took up a stance opposite Yara, her sword held at the ready in a two-handed grip. Then Yara whirled towards her without warning, and their swords met with a clash that was backed by the sudden cheers of the men.  
  
Dany drew back, clearing her sword from Yara's. Yara advanced on her, and Dany gave way, only to surge forward seconds later, delivering a blow that Yara readily intercepted. The men's cheers grew, and at such close range, they drowned every other sound out, they formed a circle around Yara and Dany, watching the two women with interested eyes.  
  
Yara had years of practice and experience on her side, Dany had determination and it kept her in the fight, although when Yara came at her again and again, weaving her sword in an attempt to land a blow on her, Dany simply evaded or blocked each of Yara's moves, rarely making one of her own, hesitating to attack outright.     
  
Yara drew back, allowing Dany a moment of reprive, though her sword still remained at the ready.  
  
"Come, come. Is that all you have to offer?" Yara laughed, but her tone was not mocking in any way. It was curious, prodding. "You have the blood of Aegon and his sisters in you, and they were warriors."  
  
"So?" Dany said breathlessly, her sword still clutched in both hands.  
  
"So?" Yara echoed, pointing her sword directly at Dany. The sword was long, and it gleamed, its tip near Dany's nose. "So fight like you do!" Yara said, her voice rising commandingly, challengingly.   

The rise of Yara's voice and its tone startled Dany, Dany did not consider herself a warrior, not in the way Yara or Daario or Jorah...or Rhaegar, or even Aegon and his sisters had been. They fought, they killed...and she, she had fought and killed too, only she had used a dragon, and not a sword.  
  
She was not a warrior. But she was, _she was_ , Dany realized suddenly, the thought sending a heat like liquid fire up her spine. She had been a warrior, ever since she had picked up the belt of medallions to strike her brother so long ago.   
  
One of her hands fell from the hilt of her sword, as if by its own volition, and she looked up at Yara. Yara looked back at her, her expression open but expectant, beckoning.  
  
A different heat rose in Dany, though it was not a heat, but a feeling, a thrill that made her fingers curl tightly around the hilt of her sword, and made her body tense in the expectation of... _of the fight._ Yara was right, she had the blood of warriors in her _._  
  
  
Dany wanted to attack. She had little skill, but she would learn, and learn quickly, she knew. And so she did.  
  
She threw herself into the assault, now wielding her sword with only one hand. Her sword collided with Yara's, sliding against it, a push sending Yara reeling back. Shock rippled through Yara, but she was quick to recover, and even quicker to retaliate with a swing that would have swept the width of Dany's torso.  
  
But Dany ducked under Yara's swing, switched her sword to her left hand in a movement that surprised even her, and met Yara's sword again. Then the fight began anew, and in earnest.  
  
The men chanted wordlessly around them, not championing for a particular opponent, but for both.  
  
  
Sparring with Yara was not like sparring with Daario. Yara was smaller and more limber, nearer Dany's height. Dany could maneuver around her with ease, and Yara could do the same.  
  
They slashed and swung, parrying each others blades and stepping aside as their swords came within hairsbreadths of each other's bodies, they were not fighting to hurt one another, but Dany was aware that slightest misstep on her part would be severe.  
  
Though Dany still favored her two handed grip, using only one so freely, offered a mobility she has not had before. She wielded with enthusiasm, each clash of metal against metal like a pounding drum to her ears.   
  
The fight went on, afterwards Dany could not tell for how long, but she vividly remembered the way it had ended.

Yara had spun aside, out of reach of Dany's sword, then had swung to the right, and doubled back, coming behind Dany with a blow meant to fall on her shoulders. Dany had felt Yara, more than she seen and heard her, and whirled around, curving her sword up to land against Yara's, then pressing downwards, exerting pressure.  
  
Yara clung to her hilt, her blade scraping against Dany's, and then she pulled back, shoving blade against blade. Their swords locked and yanked them forward, and they stood nearly chest to chest, their blades held taut between them, the fight abruptly ended.

  
The men's cheers turned into a universal scream, and Daario's voice was among them.  
  


* * *

 

   
  
They came to Winterfell during the night. They anchored the ship and dropped boats, landing and advancing on Winterfell. Dany had left Drogon to protect boats - "If we need him he will come to me." she had told Yara.  

Yara had wanted Dany to stay with Daario at the boats as well, citing a fear for her safety, but Dany waved aside her concern.  
  
"I am going." was all Dany said.  
  
Gaining entrance to Winterfell under cover of night was easy, the Ironborn moved with brutal precision, tossing grapples and scaling the wall, slaying every guard they came across, but allowing no noise to be heard.     
  
Dany was ushered along through the gate the Ironborn had opened by Yara and Daario, one to her right and one to her left, keeping a protective barrier around her at the head of the men. They infiltrated step by step, kill by kill, without an alarm raised, until they came to the hall that led to Sansa's rooms.  
  
Yara left all but three of her men behind, and went down the corridor with Dany. The archer she had brought with her dispatched the two shocked guards at Sansa's door silently, but the thud of their bodies hitting the stone floor made enough noise to alert the occupant in the room beyond that there was something amiss.  
  
  
The door opened with a creak, and Daario swept Dany behind him, Yara taking up a stance in front of them. They were expecting a guard, but Sansa's tall figure stood silhouetted in the doorway instead.   
  
Confusion clouded Sansa's face as her eyes landed on the battle-ready Yara, then swept past her to alight on Daario, and then finally, on Dany.  
  
Sansa gasped, horror spasming across her features. She slammed the door shut, and fumbled with the bolt, but Yara kicked the door open, clearing the way for Dany to step past her and enter the room.  
  
Dany paused just inside the doorway, her eyes finding Sansa's.  
  
Sansa shook her head in obvious denial, her lips parting and moving noiselessly. Dany, in opposition, was expressionless, her eyes showing nothing.  
  
'You're dead." Sansa croaked, her voice breaking in fear on the words. Dany took a step forward, and Sansa's next words came out a scream. " _You're dead! Jon killed you!"_  
  
"Yes, he killed me." Dany agreed. "But I did not remain dead."  
  
"Why are you here, what do you want?!" Sansa shrieked, stumbling backwards, away from Dany.  
  
"I'm here for you, and I want justice." Dany answered. Sansa gasped again at Dany's words, and she lurched towards a table that held the remains of her supper, her fingers closing around a knife.  
  
But Dany had already drawn her sword, bringing the flat of the blade down on Sansa's wrist with restraint. It caused Sansa little pain, but the gesture made her drop the knife, her fingers trembling uncontrollably.   
  
She stared at Dany, and more specifically Dany's sword for a tense moment, before shouting for the guards in a high, panicked tone. Daario slipped by Dany and was on Sansa in an instant, pinning her hands to her sides with an arm wrapped around her torso, and covering her mouth with his hand.  
  
"Let's go." the sellsword said. Dany nodded, and Daario dragged Sansa out the door, pushing her into the waiting hands of Yara's men.  
  
Footsteps thundered up the corridor, coming from the feet of the men Sansa had summoned with her screams. Daario drew his sword, and Yara joined him. They made short work of the men, and the Ironborn hurried through the fray with their captive. Dany followed behind them, holding the tip of her sword to Sansa's back as a warning for the woman to stay silent.  
  
The last Northern soldier fell, and Daario and Yara rejoined them. They sped back the way they had came, meeting the rest of the waiting Ironborn. The group rejoined, and as a mass, they moved back, retracing their steps. 

Other men came, and in much larger numbers, but by then it was too late, the Ironborn had faded past the gate and were making a hurried retreat towards the boats.  
  
They piled into the boats, and Daario took back Sansa, pulling her into the boat that was occupied by him, Yara and Dany. Sansa fussed and fought, kicking at him, but he shoved her into the back of the boat and took up an oar.  
  
"You won't get far!" Sansa shouted. "My men will come for me - " 

"We will be long gone before anyone of your men gets a ship in the water to follow us." Yara cut her off, soundly amused. She nudged a length of rope towards Daario, and swiped the oar from his hand. Daario picked up the rope and turned to Sansa, catching her wrists and binding them together.  
  
Dany watched in cool interest. Sansa was shaking, and she turned to glare icily at Dany.   
  
"You can't do this!" she hissed. "I am the Queen, this is an act of hostility - "  
  
"You aren't one to lecture me about hostilty." Dany broke in. "You're my prisoner now, and you will remain my prisoner until your trial."  
  
"Trial, what trial!"  
  
"Your trial for treason." Dany said simply, then turned away, ignoring Sansa's forthcoming squawks of outrage.  
  
When they reached Yara's ship, Dany ordered Sansa to be taken below, then retreated to Yara's cabin, with Daario at the door.  


* * *

  
  
"It was a success, we have the Stark queen." Yara said when she came down to the cabin sometime later.  
  
Dany nodded, and Yara poured out two measures of wine from a cask in the cabin. She handed one to Dany, and Dany took it.   
  
"To your rule." Yara offered, holding out her cup. Dany knocked her cup against Yara's, and they drank."This is a promising beginning." Yara added after she had drained her cup, and Dany smiled in answer.  


* * *

 

  
The next morning, Dany ventured below deck to Sansa's cell, deep in the bowels of the ship. She waved away the guards, and approached the cell.  
  
"I don't understand how you can be alive." Sansa greeted.  
  
"And I do not understand how you could betray me, your rightful queen." Dany said stolidly. Sansa's face twisted.  
  
"You weren't a good queen." Sansa said.  
  
"I _am_ a queen, and I am certainly a better ruler than Cersei or my father."   
  
"I could not trust you." Sansa objected. "You stole the kingship from Jon, and you wanted to rule Westeros."  
  
"I am a queen." Dany repeated. "Queens rule, and to rule, I need a kingdom. And I stole nothing from your brother, he relinquished his position of his own free will."   
  
"You tricked him into doing so." Sansa accused. "I know what you are, and what people like you do to get what you want. Cersei Lannister said once that a woman's weapon is not just her tears, but between her legs."  
  
"Are you calling me a whore?" Dany said evenly.  
  
"Why else would Jon have given up his crown for you?" Sansa said.  
  
Dany scoffed.  
  
"It seems you were more than just Cersei's hostage. You were her pupil." Dany said. Sansa's expression became affronted.  
  
"I lived with her, and I watched what she did. She taught me who bad people are." Sansa said defensively.  
  
"And it seems you took her lessons to heart." Dany shot back. "They said your father was an honorable man, but I see no honor in his children, and least of all you. I value loyalty in my subjects, and I punish those who do not have it. And you have no loyalty."  
  
"You are not the type of person I want to be loyal to. You are a tyrant." Sansa spat.

"A tyrant would have killed your brother and burned Winterfell to the ground, or left the North to die at the hands of the Others. I did none of those things." Dany said. "You however sowed discontent and committed treason against me, all to seize power for your brother or yourself. You knew Jon's heritage, and you revealed it, so others could plot against me. So who is truly the tyrant, Sansa?"  
  
  
Sansa's pressed together, her expression burning.  
  
"You are." Sansa insisted. "You invaded Westeros and demanded that the North bend the knee. You had no claim to the Iron throne over Jon, you should have relinquished your claim when you learned the truth about him."  
  
  
Dany laughed, but there was no humor in it.  
  
  
"The Lannisters and Baratheons' killed my family when I was a baby, and sent me into exile. I have fought my entire life to return to Westeros and take my rightful place, and better the lives of my people. Do you think I would just give up my claim?"

  
"And I was a child when the Lannisters killed my father!" Sansa protested. "I was beat, and humiliated, married against my will, and raped! I only wanted the power to keep myself from harm, and you came and took it!" A flicker of emotion passed behind Dany's eyes, and Sansa jutted her chin up, expecting that her words had the effect that she desired. But her hopes were dashed.  
  
  
"So was I." Dany began coldly. "My own brother beat me and mocked me, and sold me off to a stranger, who raped me night after night. I know what it is like to live in fear and in pain, to be a slave. I do not wish that fate upon anyone, and so I fought to free the people across the Narrow Sea, and I came to Westeros to do the same. But you instead sought to tear me down, just to acquire a throne."  
  
Dany put her hands on the iron bars of the cell, leaning forward to look directly into Sansa's eyes. "I understand what you have suffered, and you have my sympathies for what you endured. But that does not change the fact that I will never forgive the treason you committed against me, and the disrespect you showed my people."     
  
"I only did what I believed was right for _my_ people. I could not be sure if you were trustworthy." Sansa objected, repeating her earlier words.  
  
Dany scoffed.  
  
"I came to the North for your people, I lost my child, my armies, and a dear friend and protector to defend your people, and endured your taunts and dislike without retaliation. If that did not make you regard me as trustworthy, than you are either stupid, or simply malicious."  
  
Rage contorted Sansa's face as she realized the futilely of garnering any favorable sympathy from Dany, and she threw all pretense of politeness to the winds.  
  
"I did not ask you to come to the North and fight for us!" Sansa shrieked.  
  
"No." Dany interrupted. "Your brother asked me to come. You had no say in the matter, since you were not a Queen then." Sansa's lips twisted hatefully, and Dany returned her grimace with a dainty smirk.  
  
"And now, you are no longer a Queen." Dany continued. "You may sit in this cell and pretend you are a queen, but everyone here knows who that title truly belongs to." Dany pivoted on her heel and began to walk away.  
  
  
Sansa slammed her hands against the bars, making Dany pause.  
  
"I am a Queen! I wanted nothing else than to be a queen since I was a child, and I will not let you take that away from me. Your family killed mine, your brother raped my aunt! Do you think you are better than me?!" Sansa screamed in fury.   
  
Dany looked at her over her shoulder, and spoke levely.  
  
"My brother did not rape Lyanna. He loved her, and she loved him, and they had a son, a baby boy. But your family took this boy and turned him into one of them. Jon and I, we might have ruled together as Targaryens, and then you would have had the North, you would have been its queen in all but name. But you chose instead to undermine me for a title. So yes, Sansa. I am better than you."  
  
  
Dany walked away then, not once looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * In the books, Dany says that she wants to be a sailor, but Viserys gets pissy about it.

**Author's Note:**

> Love this? Hate this? It doesn't matter. Anything is better than the last episode.


End file.
